City on verge of raising $50K for Miracle Field

Needs $6,700 more to trigger matching grant from state

By Dan Chalk, chalk@mdn.net

Published
5:00 am EDT, Monday, March 23, 2020

Nestled between the Greater Midland Community Center and the Central Park Band Shell lies the future location of the Miracle Field, a fully accessible baseball field for athletes of all ages with physical and cognitive disabilities. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Nestled between the Greater Midland Community Center and the Central Park Band Shell lies the future location of the Miracle Field, a fully accessible baseball field for athletes of all ages with physical and

Nestled between the Greater Midland Community Center and the Central Park Band Shell lies the future location of the Miracle Field, a fully accessible baseball field for athletes of all ages with physical and cognitive disabilities. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Nestled between the Greater Midland Community Center and the Central Park Band Shell lies the future location of the Miracle Field, a fully accessible baseball field for athletes of all ages with physical and

City of Midland Recreation Manager Marcie Post says this is an "amazing community" for being on the verge of having raised the needed $50,000 by April 3 to trigger a matching $50,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) toward the cost of a new $1.6 million Miracle Field in Central Park.

As of Saturday, $43,300 had been raised, leaving just $6,700 more to be donated by April 3 to earn the matching grant.

"We're super close and we're really excited about it," Post said. "(MEDC has) asked us if we wanted to extend (the deadline), but we're confident we're going to reach the goal, so we're not going to extend it.

"We live in a really amazing community," Post added. "Recently, things have been a little crazy (with the coronavirus), but we still see donations coming in. And that's really nice to see."

As described on the City of Midland website, a Miracle Field is a fully accessible soft-surface baseball field for athletes of all ages with physical and cognitive disabilities. The field and its surrounding complex will be located between the Central Park bandshell and the Greater Midland Community Center, on the site of the former Midland Civic Arena.

The field will be a poured-rubber, barrier-free surface. Post said the city's goal is to begin construction of the field as soon as the ground is thawed as long as public health conditions are deemed to be safe enough to do so. The plan is for the first game to be played on the field in September.

The field will host the Middle of the Mitt Miracle League with players from Midland, Isabella, Clare and Gladwin counties eligible to participate in both fall and spring schedules.

In addition to hosting Miracle League games, the field will also be the site of movie nights, veterans’ programs, holiday-themed activities and other community programs.

The City of Midland announced its crowdfunding campaign through the MEDC's "Public Spaces Community Places" program on Feb. 4, and Post said the campaign gained momentum after a video of Parks and Recreation employee Adam White and his mother discussing the field was posted on the City's website. White has Down syndrome.

"We did a video with Adam and his mom, and after that video aired, a lot of contributions came in," Post explained. "Adam is physically pretty able to hang with the best of them. The one reason he had to stop playing baseball is that the kids started throwing harder and it became a safety issue (for Adam). Adam's mom talked about that in the video."

One family in particular was captured by the ideas and motives behind the Miracle Field and decided to add even more incentive to the crowdfunding campaign.

The Wendt family of Midland pledged to match every dollar contributed after the total reached $40,000, provided the $50,000 goal is reached by April 3 — meaning a $10,000 donation.

"I believe a lot in inclusion, and we're working really hard in Midland to be more inclusive," explained Jenni Wendt. She and her husband, Jon, have a daughter, Alivia, 8, and a son, Henry, 5.

After a co-worker told her about the Miracle Field crowdfunding campaign one day, Wendt talked with her family about it at home that night.

"And my daughter said, 'Oh yeah, Mom, I know all about the Miracle Field.' She had heard about it at Woodcrest," Wendt said. "I love what she said (about the field): 'This will be great, and I can make all these new friends.'"

The Wendts eventually concluded that their hearts were squarely behind this initiative.

"So we looked and we saw they were really far from their goal," Wendt continued. "We thought, 'What can we do as a family?' So we decided we wanted to make this commitment."

It's also worth noting the Wendts are excited about the Miracle Field even though neither of their kids will be playing on it. They just want to help in any way they can.

"We want to get involved. (Our kids) are excited about being a part of it," Wendt said.

Online donations through April 3 can be made at patronicity.com. Donations made by cash or check should be directed to the Midland Area Community Foundation and the "Central Park Miracle Field Fund."

"People can contribute any dollar amount that they wish," Post said.

Those who contribute $2,500 or more will be recognized on a plaque at the field.